It was not artistic preference but rather an unfortunate accident that first led Lee McVey to pastels. The lifelong artist was working as a middle-school art teacher when a student tripped down the stairs and used McVey to break her fall. She ended up with a torn ligament in her shoulder.

“I couldn’t extend my arm and paint,” McVey says. “I wanted to find a way to work while keeping my arm close to my side, so I got some elementary-grade pastels and paper and sat with a drawing board on my lap. It was faster than working in oils, my work got better, and the color got better, so I stuck with it and started taking workshops in pastels. At the time it was painful, but there was a silver lining to it.”

McVey moved from New York to Albuquerque in 2004 after retiring from teaching and immediately became an active member of the Pastel Society of New Mexico. She now enjoys painting in both pastel and oil, and teaching pastel, as a full-time artist.

“I love teaching. It’s very rewarding to see my pastel students get what I am teaching, to see their work improve and grow,” McVey says. “I remember reading a Southwest Art story about painter Ralph Oberg. He said, ‘Painting is like juggling balls. There are only so many balls you can juggle before you drop one. You pick the ball up and start again.’ In painting, there is so much to keep in mind—composition, value, perspective, et cetera—and it’s easy to forget about one. Teaching helps me keep juggling the balls, so to speak.”

The plein-air movement and New Mexico’s stunning scenery both have a big impact on McVey’s work. Her landscapes are situated between realism and impressionism, she says. Living just a few minutes away from Albuquerque’s open spaces, she is frequently motivated by her surroundings. “I’m inspired by the landscape. The colors of the high desert are beautiful,” McVey says. “I love hearing the birds sing and bees buzzing nearby as I’m painting. It feels good to be out there. And sometimes, the painting just paints itself.” —Kelly Beard

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Gradually, the artist found less and less satisfaction in merely “painting what I thought would sell.” That’s when he began turning back to the mostly American Indian-inspired figurative works that the East Coast gallery owner had warned him to avoid.